NEWARK, N.J. — Success in life sometimes comes with help from people in high places.

For the Super Bowl, the Broncos will have an assist from Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop Samuel Aquila — who also happens to be a longtime Broncos fan, going back to his days in college at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and his wife, Linda, have invited Aquila to attend Sunday's Super Bowl with their family. On Saturday night, Aquila will celebrate Mass with a handful of players and other Broncos coaches at the team hotel in Jersey City, N.J.

Aquila was on the sidelines with Del Rio before the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots (he tweeted a picture during the game). Aquila said it was the first time he had attended a Broncos game.

The night before, Regis Jesuit High School president the Rev. Philip Steele, who serves as a Broncos chaplain, said Mass for about 15 Broncos players, coaches and family members.

"It's a great gift — something I never expected," Aquila said of the Broncos, speaking by phone from California, where he was traveling. "It's a gift to be with them spiritually. We pray for protection, good sportsmanship, for their gifts to exceed. We place it all in the hands of the Lord."

The Del Rios have been a part of Colorado's Catholic community since Jack was hired by the Broncos in January 2012, before Aquila was installed that July. In October, Linda Del Rio visited the Vatican, where she met Pope Francis and gave him a signed Broncos football.

Aquila said he came to know the Del Rios through Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, Ala., who had worked with Aquila in Rome.

During the Media Day scrum Tuesday morning in Newark, N.J., Jack Del Rio squeezed in a quick explanation of the influence of his faith on his work and life.

"When things are going well, I don't know that the challenges are as difficult as when they're not going well, and you're really leaning on your faith," he said. "I think, certainly, faith is involved in both. My trust in God is involved in both, my faith is involved in both, but through some of the harder times in my career, I've leaned harder — more fervently — on my faith."

He said his faith helps him keep perspective, even when coaching on one of sport's most high-profile stages: the Super Bowl.

"(Faith is) certainly something I don't take for granted," Del Rio said. "I'm very appreciative of a great man like the archbishop in the church, and glad that he's going to be out here with us."

Aquila said his homily to the team Saturday will be guided by the Holy Spirit — and added, for good measure, that he will be cheering for a Broncos win, too.

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